NATO road closings: 'It won't be business as usual'

Jon Hilkevitch, Chicago Tribune reporter

City officials are describing a lengthy list of roadway closings, parking bans and mass transit reroutes during the upcoming NATO summit weekend as "minor inconveniences," but independent transportation experts cautioned that the scope of the security-related changes could be disruptive.

The best advice from transportation experts to drivers planning to head downtown on May 19-21 is: Don't. In some cases, you won't be able to get there from here, despite official pronouncements that it will be a fairly normal spring weekend and back-to-work Monday.

"It won't be business as usual, as the city says it will be. I really didn't think the Secret Service and the city would be shutting down expressways, but they are. Disruption will be significant, absenteeism up and retails sales down,'' said Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation analyst at DePaul University.

If you must drive, avoid the expressways that feed into the central business district on Saturday, May 19, which is summit eve, and May 20-21 when the NATO leaders meet at McCormick Place and nearby locations. Portions of several major roads — the Stevenson Expressway, Lake Shore Drive, the Kennedy Expressway and streets near the lakefront Museum Campus — will be closed during the summit, officials said late Friday afternoon.

City officials promise to wrap up the highway and street closings in time for the Monday evening rush period, but that would appear a tall order in light of the motorcades of more than 50 international delegations heading out toO'Hare International Airportsometime that Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the corresponding advice from transportation professionals to city planners boils down to kicking the public information campaign into a much higher gear starting now, to focus on providing detailed and real-time travel alternatives during summit weekend, and to be truthful with the public.

"First, the city must make the best case for why it is doing what it's doing,'' said Joseph Schofer, a transportation expert at Northwestern University. "Use the electronic media, the Web, Twitter and everything else at your disposal to let people know what's open, what's not and what the alternatives are.

"If you're a driver and the first news you receive about a road closing is a detour sign, it's too late,'' Schofer said.

Schofer said it's not too late, however, for Chicago officials to reach out to their suburban counterparts and ask for a relaxation of parking restrictions around suburban Metra stations so that more spaces are available for people who normally drive to instead ride the train downtown.

He said a model for good planning — and public cooperation — was New York City's shutdown of subway, bus and commuter rail systems last year in advance of Hurricane Irene.

Chicago officials on Friday outlined a litany of summit-related road closings, changes to CTA bus routes and parking restrictions, while maintaining their position that disruptions will be minimal and life will be pretty much normal in the city.

"There will still be plenty of ability to get around the city,'' said Lori Healey, executive director of the Chicago NATO host committee.

CTA service changes during the summit will require detours on as many as 22 bus routes, the transit agency said. But CTA president Forrest Claypool predicted the rail system will be "completely unaffected. We think the inconveniences will be minor.''

Metra chief Alex Clifford also expressed complete confidence, saying that 90 percent of Metra customers traveling on 10 of 11 commuter lines "will see a 100 percent normal schedule all the way through the event.''

The possible exception, he said, is the Metra Electric District line, which runs under McCormick Place, the site of the summit. Metra Electric and South Shore Line commuter trains will operate during the summit, but officials warned that passengers should plan for reduced service and delays due to "necessary security measures" as trains approach and pass through without stopping at the McCormick Place station.

The Secret Service has not yet told Metra whether Electric Line passengers will be screened, he said.

Rail commuters should expect to see a heightened level of security similar to what airline passengers face, said Gerald Hanas, general manager of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore Line. That would likely mean inspections of passengers' bags and other items, as well as more on-board security, Hanas said.

Schwieterman said government and public agencies must be prepared to handle a dynamic situation.

"People have been told this is coming, and anticipation is building,'' he said.